Marathon des Grands Crus

Location: Dijon
Country: France
Website: https://www.marathondesgrandscrus.com/
2025 Marathon Date: 12/10/2025
2026 Marathon Date: TBC
Winning Time 2025: 02:30:18
% Sub-3s: 2–5%
# Sub-3s: 10–49
Total Runners: 1k–3k

Marathon des Grands Crus is a race that runs through the beating heart of Burgundy’s wine country — a marathon steeped in terroir, vineyard roads, and French rural charm. If Paris is theatrical and Lyon is grand, Dijon’s marathon is sensory: rows of vines, autumn light, the earthy smell of fields and stone villages. It is not a “PR factory.” It is a marathon for runners who don’t mind earning their time, who enjoy courses with nuance rather than conveyor-belt predictability.

The opening kilometres ease runners into the countryside, with narrow roads and gentle rollers that come in waves rather than punches. Surfaces can shift slightly from classic road to more rustic rural textures — nothing technical, just enough variation to sharpen concentration. This is a course where you run by feel, not by obsessing over every second on the watch. Sub-3 athletes succeed here by staying smooth, breathing rhythmically, and staying patient through gentle climbs so they can make time back on descents and flats without strain.

Mid-October in Burgundy is typically cool and crisp, occasionally misty at the start, with soft golden light later in the run. Temperature is usually on the runner’s side, though exposure in sections means an honest breeze is possible. Aid stations are the friendly, community-driven kind — not flashy, but heartfelt and efficient. Think smiling volunteers in hi-vis, not branded fanfare.

Support ebbs and flows. Villages bring clusters of cheering locals; vineyard stretches bring near silence — save shoes on tarmac and the low hum of effort. For many, that quiet is the point. This is a race where you can hear your cadence, calibrate breathing, and feel fully present in the act of running, with nature and agricultural life ticking along around you.

A sub-3 in Dijon isn’t luck. It’s discipline layered on fitness, patience layered on strength. This course rewards experienced runners who know when to push, when to hold, and how to keep mechanics efficient through rolling countryside terrain. If you want crowds 10-deep, flashing lights, and global hype, you go elsewhere. But if you value atmosphere, identity and rhythm — and like the idea of toasting a marathon in wine country afterward — this race has a distinct and rewarding character.